Micro-transactions: Good or Bad?

Drew Bergmark of Original-Gamer.com: Yesterday, the managing director of PikPok Games Mario Wynands spoke with NowGamer about topic that has been spreading like slime in Ghostbusters 2: micro-transactions. The more anger about it, the more the topic grows. What's all the fuss for games that use micro-transactions? It's not that publishers like EA are pointing a gun at you saying you have to buy these micro-transactions but still consumers are voicing their opinion. How will micro-transactions effect the industry at large: in a good way or in a bad way?

You didn't even read it and you gave your opinion. :| I actually gave good examples of why micro-transactions are important. I also explained they could be used in a bad way such as what most gamers are fearing will become an industry standard.

^^ I browsed through the huge article but I still stand on what I said because I know what Microtransactions will lead to by greedy companies. They will start nickel and diming you for every little thing in the games. It makes them money while it impacts us. Pretty much we buy a game to keep buying in game stuff if we want/need it to proceed in the game in a fun way and not be frustrated without the need to buy Microtransactions.

@Kratos_Kills #1.1.1 If developers are trying to 'wring' your money, why do you give them money in the first place? Is it because you like the game genre the gameplay is based upon or the franchise that you follow? If this such a big deal, maybe the gaming media isn't doing their job to report it.

I saw NeoGaf play the blame game with Polygon earlier but there really wasn't an interesting discussion that started as most of it was alluding to the fact that gamers are feeling taken advantage by these price points. If you don't like a price for a game, wait for it to drop.

Agree with you. All I've ever seen with these is they're basically charging for cheat codes. Gamers say if it were done in a right way..which way? It's not detracting from the main game. But it seems gamers are, for some reason, feeling entightled to everything and should be given free. All free.

Free? They're paying full price for the game up front. If this was free-to-play (the model that microtransations were created to support), you'd be right. But you are already paying for the FULL game. You ARE entitled to everything in that case.

The issue is that some people are thinking ahead / researching the topic and others just write it off.

The long / short is, right now they're not a problem, but many iOS games THRIVE off nickel and dimming you till you lost interest. We've seen several iOS games where buying items would take a VAST amount of time to accomplish, which forces dedication or payment. The other side is much worse, but HAS been implemented on 1 PS3 game already. This is the system Zookeeper VS uses.

You see, the game gives you 1 match (or token to play a match) per 6 minutes real time. You can bank this time, but you can't blank more than 2 tokens. If you wish to play more often, you can buy an item to play additional games, but these add at most 6 and removes your ability to gain another match till you're back down to 2 attempts. So while some people (like my Mother) would gladly pay even an absurd sum like $15 dollars to play it an unlimited amount, she's forced to deal with their awful limitations, pay their absurd fees (6 games = $1, 36 = $5, 72 = $10, 180 = $23) or play nothing at all.

Since it's harder to prevent these AFTER they happen, people are trying to show their outrage now over having another DLC event. For those unaware about the DLC event... they ORIGINALLY were awesome things like Halo 2 offered you the map pack for X dollars or wait till (and the date was given on day 1) ____ date to get it for free. Now a days we see Limited Editions, Collectors Editions, Special Editions, Preorder Items, Buy X Get Y promotions that slowly erode the value of a game I literally just bought.

The only way they'd be bad is if you have to buy them to finish the game. I have no problem with DLC to let you play more levels as long as they aren't taken out of the actual game. Go ahead and let people buy little things like outfits or weapons. That's no big deal. If you don't like it just don't buy them.

Look, if you pay $60 or full price for a game, you should get the complete package. Micro-transactions were intended as a means of monetizing the free-to-play model. It meant the player could pay for only what they wanted, or not pay at all. When you pay full price for a game, you should get the FULL game and everything that comes with that.

Now I know: EA didn't remove items from DS3 and go on to sell them as microtransactions. Except... yes, they did. Weapon specific ammo was replaced by generic ammo to support microtransactions. A staple of horror games was removed for the sake of expansion in microtransactions. Still think it doesn't affect you if you don't buy them?

More to that, these used to be cheat codes, unlockables and other nice extras that were included in the full price of the game. Now you still pay full price and are expected to pay for these too, as if full price only covers the bare minimum game. Not ok.

Once again, this has been bastardized by old business men who can't stand to compete against a new business model, who then twist and distort it to fit their old business model. It is something of a fad, because it looks good on spreadsheets. Comparatively, microtransactions will obviously have far more growth than retail sales or any other transaction right now because they are only now expanding into it. This guy can point to the nice upward slant on a graph and impress the investors and the board, and can then pretend to be doing a great job. This is why they say "gamers obviously want them" and that they're selling well. Growth in this area dwarfs that of any other. These are not good for the industry when applied to full price games. Do not try to defend this.

OMG I had no clue that people are forced to use micro transactions. Their wallets must have a gun to their heads are something because I just simply ignore micro transactions but I guess it's hard for some people. :) LOL

The problem I have with Microtransactions mainly came from Free to play games. People would pay to win most of the time. Companies have to make their money from that game, so I didn't really mind the pay to win model there.

When it comes to a full priced games, I have more of a problem with Disk locked content than micro transactions. Most of the micro transactions I've see so far were just small cheats to help players get by. Nothing too bad, but then there's DLC. Capcom Style DLC...Where they locked the stuff that's on the disk and sell it to you later. FF13-2 and Asura's Wrather SELLING THE REAL ENDINGS! some of these things are important parts of the game! If the player wanted to get the whole experience, they'd HAVE TO buy the DLC. There are some instances where players feel FORCED to buy DLC stuff.